I am now fully entrenched writing my 18th edition of my college preview magazine and awhile back finished writing all the coaches sections for each of the 124 schools.

One thing that has clearly changed in the past decade plus has been the proliferation of the coaches' salaries and in 2011 a record 32 college coaches made $2,000,000 or more for the year.

I find it fascinating to see what each of the coaches make per year and believe me much of it is well deserved when you consider the hours they put in and the constant demands by alums all over the country.

Below is a chart of the top 50 highest paid college coaches and the salary information was provided by the USA Today football coaches salary database which combine both guaranteed and non-guaranteed incomes. (Private universities such as USC and Notre Dame did not reveal what they specifically paid their coaches.)

Top 50 Highest Paid College Coaches

Rk

School

Conf

Head Coach

Univ

Non-Univ

Total Pay

Max Bonus

1

Texas

Big 12

Mack Brown

$5,192,500

$1,000

$5,193,500

$850,000

2

Alabama

SEC

Nick Saban

$4,683,333

$150,000

$4,833,333

$700,000

3

Oklahoma

Big 12

Bob Stoops

$4,075,000

$0

$4,075,000

$819,500

4

LSU

SEC

Les Miles

$3,751,000

$105,417

$3,856,417

$700,000

5

Iowa

Big Ten

Kirk Ferentz

$3,785,000

$0

$3,785,000

$1,750,000

6

Arkansas

SEC

Bobby Petrino

$3,635,000

$3,000

$3,638,000

$650,000

7

Auburn

SEC

Gene Chizik

$3,500,000

$0

$3,500,000

$1,200,000

8

Michigan

Big Ten

Brady Hoke

$3,254,000

$0

$3,254,000

$500,000

9

Florida

SEC

Will Muschamp

$3,221,000

$0

$3,221,000

$450,000

10

Georgia

SEC

Mark Richt

$2,811,400

$128,400

$2,939,800

$525,000

11

South Carolina

SEC

Steve Spurrier

$2,800,000

$28,000

$2,828,000

$1,000,000

12

Oregon

PAC-12

Chip Kelly

$2,800,000

N/A

$2,800,000

$1,035,000

13

Nebraska

Big Ten

Bo Pelini

$2,775,000

N/A

$2,775,000

$1,000,000

14

Mississippi

SEC

Houston Nutt

$2,756,250

$15,500

$2,771,750

$715,000

15

Florida St

ACC

Jimbo Fisher

$2,750,000

$0

$2,750,000

$725,000

16

Missouri

Big 12

Gary Pinkel

$2,700,000

$0

$2,700,000

$850,000

17

Wisconsin

Big Ten

Bret Bielema

$2,500,000

$98,186

$2,598,186

$400,000

18

Mississippi St

SEC

Dan Mullen

$2,500,000

$0

$2,500,000

$650,000

19

Georgia Tech

ACC

Paul Johnson

$2,369,000

$0

$2,369,000

$1,125,000

20

Tennessee

SEC

Derek Dooley

$2,293,391

$37,200

$2,330,591

$475,000

21

Virginia Tech

ACC

Frank Beamer

$2,243,000

$85,000

$2,328,000

$407,500

22

Louisville

Big East

Charlie Strong

$2,300,000

$5,000

$2,305,000

$500,000

23

California

PAC-12

Jeff Tedford

$2,300,000

$0

$2,300,000

$255,000

24

Rutgers

Big East

Greg Schiano

$2,195,000

$101,969

$2,296,969

$530,000

25

Wake Forest

ACC

Jim Grobe

$2,275,545

N/A

$2,275,545

N/A

26

Washington

PAC-12

Steve Sarkisian

$2,250,000

$0

$2,250,000

$1,075,000

27

Texas A&M

Big 12

Mike Sherman

$2,200,000

$1,000

$2,201,000

$350,000

28

Kansas

Big 12

Turner Gill

$2,100,000

$1,200

$2,101,200

$419,158

29

Oklahoma St

Big 12

Mike Gundy

$2,100,000

N/A

$2,100,000

$500,000

30

Texas Tech

Big 12

Tommy Tuberville

$2,050,000

$9,000

$2,059,000

$1,025,000

31

TCU

Mt. West

Gary Patterson

$2,018,362

N/A

$2,018,362

N/A

32

Maryland

ACC

Randy Edsall

$2,013,440

$0

$2,013,440

$875,000

33

Kansas St

Big 12

Bill Snyder

$1,925,000

$0

$1,925,000

$455,000

34

Michigan St

Big Ten

Mark Dantonio

$1,918,000

$0

$1,918,000

$650,000

35

NC State

ACC

Tom O'Brien

$932,950

$945,000

$1,877,950

$750,000

36

Clemson

ACC

Dabo Swinney

$1,833,333

$13,000

$1,846,333

$775,000

37

Virginia

ACC

Mike London

$1,780,000

$14,679

$1,794,679

$715,000

38

Duke

ACC

David Cutcliffe

$1,762,895

N/A

$1,762,895

N/A

39

Illinois

Big Ten

Ron Zook

$1,750,000

$3,500

$1,753,500

$65,650

40

SMU

CUSA

June Jones

$1,727,082

N/A

$1,727,082

N/A

41

Kentucky

SEC

Joker Phillips

$1,701,339

$1,150

$1,702,489

$1,105,000

42

Minnesota

Big Ten

Jerry Kill

$1,700,000

N/A

$1,700,000

$875,000

42

USF

Big East

Skip Holtz

$1,700,000

$0

$1,700,000

$350,000

42

Utah

PAC-12

Kyle Whittingham

$1,700,000

N/A

$1,700,000

$740,000

45

Baylor

Big 12

Art Briles

$1,549,396

N/A

$1,549,396

N/A

46

Navy

Ind.

Ken Niumatalolo

$1,538,190

N/A

$1,538,190

N/A

47

Boise St

Mt. West

Chris Petersen

$1,525,000

$0

$1,525,000

$170,000

48

Arizona St

PAC-12

Dennis Erickson

$1,500,000

$3,000

$1,503,000

$1,800,000

49

Connecticut

Big East

Paul Pasqualoni

$1,500,000

N/A

$1,500,000

$114,583

50

West Virginia

Big East

Dana Holgorsen

$1,490,000

$0

$1,490,000

$600,000

1. Mack Brown, Texas
Mack Brown took over a 4-7 team in '98 but then proceeded to take them to bowls in 13 of 14 seasons. He has led Texas to at least a share of six Big 12 South Titles, a national title in ‘05 and in '08 won the Bobby Dodd National COY.

2. Nick Saban, Alabama
Alabama had just one winning season in the previous four years before Nick Saban took over. Saban took LSU to a National Title in '03 and spent '05 & '06 as HC of the Miami Dolphins. In his 16 seasons as a college HC he's never had a losing season and of course he's now guided the Tide to their 13th & 14th National Titles.

3. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Prior to Bob Stoops' arrival, Oklahoma had five consecutive non-winning seasons. Stoops' arrived in 1999 won a National Title in his 2nd season then played in the Title game in '03, '04 and '08. OU's 132 wins the last 12 years are more than any other BCS team.

4. Les Miles, LSU
When Les Miles took over at Oklahoma St the Cowboys had been to one bowl in 12Y. He left taking them to three straight. Miles led the Tigers to a National Title in his third season and after a 3Y drought without an SEC Title, guided them to a perfect 13-0 regular season LY before losing the National Title game while earning AP COY.

5. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Kirk Ferentz took over for a legend Hayden Fry in 1999. In '02 he led Iowa to its first Big Ten Title since '90 and also the most wins in school history (11) which he tied in 2009. Ferentz was named the Big Ten COY in '02, '04 and '09.

6. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
HC Bobby Petrino had a great run at Louisville, guiding the team to 4 bowls and a pair of #6 AP finishes. He left for the Atlanta Falcons in '07 and was blasted by the media after quitting with three games to go. Arkansas struggled in the changeover in '08 going 5-7 but Petrino turned it around going 8-5 in '09 and In his 3rd year here he led the Hogs to their first ever BCS bowl and LY led them to a school tying 11 wins.

7. Gene Chizik, Auburn
Auburn fans were not thrilled when former DC ('02-'04) Gene Chizik was hired to replace Tommy Tuberville as he was 5-19 as Iowa St's HC ('07-'08). However, Chizik delivered Auburn's 2nd National Title (1957) in 2010 and Chizik is now 9-0 in bowls as a grad asst thru HC. 8. Brady Hoke, Michigan
While not an alum Brady Hoke was an assistant at Michigan for eight years ('95-'02) before taking the job as Ball St HC job (34-39). After getting the Cardinals to their highest ever rank (#12) Hoke took over San Diego St which had not had a winning season S/'98. In his 2nd year he left after earning MWC COY leading the Aztecs to their best record S/'77 and last year guided the Wolverines to 11 wins and their first BCS Bowl Win since the 2000 season.

9. Will Muschamp, FloridaWill Muschamp who was the NCAA's highest paid assistant in 2010 beat Meyer's future team Ohio St to finish 7-6 in his inaugural season as HC. Muschamp was the DC and HC-in-waiting at Texas ('08-'10). He also was the DC at Auburn ('06-'07) and LSU ('02-'04) and he spent '05 in the NFL (Miami assistant HC on D).

10. Mark Richt, GeorgiaMark Richt is now in his 12 ssn here and earned SEC COY honors in '02 and '05. He was the OC at Florida St from '94-'00 and last year was under heavy fire after the Bulldogs started the season 0-2. Richt would then guide them to 10 straight wins earning a trip to the SEC Title Game for the 4th time in his tenure here.

If you want to check out more on coach’s salaries make sure you check out the USA Today database.

Also make sure you are checking out my updated 2012 Draft Preview with a position by position outlook, draft order, team needs and a whole lot more.

Don’t forget to check out our Spring Central section to get 2012 schedules, coaching changes, who’s back/who’s not and all the NFL Draft early entrants.